Singapore - Shopping carts that scan purchases and total up
the bill may soon become reality as a result of research making radio
frequency identification technology (RFID) more accessible, a
published report said on Tuesday.
Researchers at the Institute of Microelectronics (IME) said their
work could cut the cost of each RFID reader from 1,000 US dollars to
100 US dollars.
They have also reduced the size of the readers from a small
notebook computer to that of a credit card, according to details of
the innovation in The Straits Times.
The researchers have managed to combine the components needed onto
a single silicon chip, following a year's work and an investment in
the 'million-dollar range,' IME executive director Kwong Dim-Lee was
quoted as saying.
This could translate to more consumer handheld applications on
smaller devices, said Kwong, a professor.
Rajinder Singh, who heads the research team, said the cost of
radio tags which mark and identify goods has been rapidly falling.
'However, the readers (which scan the tags) are the biggest,
heaviest and most expensive portion of RFID adoption,' he told the
newspaper.
With the new research possibly slashing the price, more retail
applications could be on the way.
The IME has linked up with Smart ID Technology to manufacture and
sell the readers, which are also expected to be introduced to
Asia-Pacific customers in the manufacturing sector.
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Germany-Energy/
CORRECTION (eca 003):
2ND ROUNDUP: German coalition agrees to end coal subsidies by 2018
Eds: Adds background; corrects reference to CSU in second graph =
Berlin (dpa) - The leaders of Germany's ruling coalition agreed
early Tuesday to end 3.2-billion-dollars of government subsidies to
the coal industry by 2018, officials said.
Economy Minister Michael Glos (Christian Social Union) and Social
Democrat Party head Kurt Beck announced the agreement after a meeting
of the coalition committee that coordinates policy between the
Christian Democrats and Social Democrats.
The decision appeared to be a break-through on a controversial
issue that has been brewing in Germany for years. Germany has been
under European Union pressure to cut state state support for the
country's remaining eight mines, in keeping with Europe-wide trends.
The agreement opens the way for the planned stock market listing
by German mining group RAG AG in the fall. The Essen-based company is
in favour of ending coal as an energy source and says it has
earmarked the 5.5 billion euros (7.1 billion dollars) which it
expects raise by its stock market debut for renewing areas
damaged by coal mining.
Beck said a subsidy phase-out scenario had been hammered out that
would cut off funds by 2018. But the coalition agreed that the
decision would be reexamined again in 2012 by the Bundestag and the
government as well as the provinces most affected - North-Rhine
Westphalia and the Saar.
Monday's agreement among coalition leaders calls for guaranteeing
the mining subsidies to 2018.
Beck reassured the country's 33,000 miners that they would not be
laid off under German laws that allow layoffs due to restructuring, a
provision that eases job elimination. It was not clear if the
workforce would be allowed to dwindle through attrition.
'The miners are in any case guaranteed of security,' Beck said.
The labour-friendly SPD has fought an end to subsidies for years.
Glos, who said he was pleased that agreement had been reached,
said final details would be nailed down at a coalition meeting on
Wednesday to prepare the draft law for Germany's parliament.
The federal and provincial governments currently pay the subsidies
to the coal industry.
The way was paved for the agreement on Sunday, when federal
officials and Saar and North-Rhine Westphalia officials endorsed a
draft paper that called for the subsidies to be ended with a view to
social justice for the miners. The miner's union IGBCE and RAG had
accepted the guidelines.
The negotiations only moved forward once the SPD had dropped its
objections to ending the subsidies, but the labour-friendly party
insisted on the 2012 review as a backstop.
According to the joint draft paper, the German parliament will
review the end to subsidies based on a common report from the federal
government and the two mining-belt provinces as to whether it makes
sense for Germany to close its coal mines based on the 'economis of
the industry, the country's energy security issues and the country's
overall energy policies.'
The report must be submitted by June 30, 2012, the draft agreement
said.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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